The wife of a football-mad interpreter was doing his dream job for Hull City when he was found "hanging limp" out of his car after a massive stroke.

Israel Andrade, 44, was due at a press conference with then City manager Marco Silva on March 10 last year when he was found hanging limp out of his parked car in Beverley.

The Portuguese-born man had been used by the club since the previous January to help fellow countrymen Silva and Brazilian midfielder Evandro acquaint themselves with the English media.

But since that day, Israel has been unable to work and a series of subsequent strokes and seizures have destroyed his speech. When he goes into a full chronic seizure, which is frequently, he is temporarily paralysed down his right hand side and he becomes disorientated.

Amanda says her husband of four years is not getting the help he needs. (Image: Jerome Ellerby)

Speaking publicly on the first anniversary of the first major stroke, his wife of four years, Amanda, says he is a "shadow" of his former self.

Speaking about the impact the strokes have had on her husband, Amanda, 49, said: "He's lost everything. He was doing his dream job and he was so proud of that. He adores football and he watches it all the time: the Premier League, La Liga, the Champions League - everything. It's his passion.

"There's a YouTube video of him sat next to Evandro and he used to show people that. He thought Marco Silva was the bees' knees.

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"He's a shadow of the man he once was. He can't work, he can't drive, he can't converse with people and he has a bit of social anxiety where he won't go out to parties anymore.

"He's lost five stone since it happened as well."

Multi-talented Israel spoke six languages before his stroke and, although he can still read, write and understand most of what people say to him, he can no longer pick up the phone or go to the shops and ask for something.

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Now, his wife says she is at her "wits' end" that he is "not getting the help he needs" since he suffered a massive stroke exactly 12 months ago.

The north Hull couple were promised Israel would receive speech therapy three times a week but, despite intermittent visits from professionals, has not had an appointment since Christmas because of teething problems with new software the NHS has bought.

Israel used to speak, but still understands Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. (Image: Jerome Ellerby)

And despite being promised an appointment with a neurologist within 12 weeks of his last major seizure in November, pressures on the health service has meant this has not come to fruition.

Amanda said the impact on their everyday lives had been enormous and the pair were struggling to adjust. She fears his condition will deteriorate if he isn't given the right treatment quickly.

"Israel's not getting the help he needs," she said. "The therapist who does come is lovely and we've no problem with individuals, it's the system itself.

"It was put off for ages and then we were expecting him to be able to start soon and then recently we got a letter telling us there'd been another delay because of this new software.

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"We were expecting his appointment to be soon but it just hasn't happened. I'm just desperate and at my wits' end with it all.

"He needs help soon. People of his age, if they don't go forwards with this sort of thing quickly they go backwards."

A spokeswoman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust told the Mail: "We would like to apologise to Mr Andrade for the delay he has experienced.

"A neurology appointment is scheduled for Mr Andrade and this will take place in the very near future."

In happier times: Israel on his wedding day in 2014.

Responding to Amanda's claims about Israel's speech therapy sessions, a spokeswoman for the City Health Care Partnership said: "City Health Care Partnership CIC (CHCP) cannot disclose any details about the care of individual patients as this would be a breach of confidentiality, but we would urge anyone who has used our services and is unhappy about any aspect of their care to get in touch with our Customer Care team who will endeavour to resolve any problem or concern as quickly as possible."